WASHINGTON  A long-awaited Army report released Wednesday implicates 27 members of a military intelligence unit in the alleged abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, well beyond the seven reservist military police already charged.

The inquiry also found that three more military police were involved in mistreatment of prisoners.

Findings

27 members of intelligence unit linked to abuse Medics among those failing to report abuses Private contractors took part Eight "ghost detainees" hidden from Red Cross Top commanders responsible but not criminally culpable.

"We discovered serious misconduct and a loss of moral values" at the prison, said Gen. Paul Kern, who supervised the inquiry into interrogation techniques at the U.S.-run prison near Baghdad.

The names of the 27 intelligence unit members, which included four civilian contractors, were not released pending possible charges. However, officials did say Col. Thomas Pappas, who was the commander of the 205th Intelligence Brigade, could face criminal action.

Kern said that Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the top U.S. commander in Iraq when the abuses occurred, was not culpable but, like other senior commanders, bears responsibility. Kern said four officers "above the rank of colonel" face discipline for command failures at Abu Ghraib. Four lower-ranking officers in the 205th Military Intelligence Brigade face either administrative or possible criminal charges, an Army official said.

Another eight — six soldiers and two contractors — were faulted for failing to report abuse.

Kern and other military officials who briefed reporters emphasized that the abusers were a tiny minority of the military personnel at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere in Iraq. But they said the number of abuse incidents — they cited 44 cases — and types of abuse were greater than previously believed.

Among the incidents: Guards and interrogators competed with dog teams to see which could more quickly make naked teenage prisoners lose control of their bowels and bladders. (Related story: Top military officials share in blame)

The report blamed the abuse mainly on a lack of discipline among the troops and lack of leadership from their immediate commanders.

And although the troops were never ordered to abuse prisoners, there was great pressure on interrogators to get information that could help stem the insurgency that was killing U.S. troops. Military leaders, while "not directly responsible" for the abuses, bear responsibility, Lt. Gen. Anthony Jones said.

In addition to the abuse cases, Kern said investigators found eight cases in which prisoners were hidden from the International Red Cross, which monitored prison conditions. "We can't tell you why," he said.

Wednesday's report, known as the Fay report after one of the chief investigators, Maj. Gen. George Fay, is one of at least seven stemming from the Abu Ghraib scandal. A sharply worded report issued Tuesday blamed top Pentagon officials, including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, for creating conditions that led to abuse at the prison.